


The One I Want to Chase

by aurons_fan



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Axel/Roxas Day, Happy 8/13!, Interns & Internships, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 11:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7755337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurons_fan/pseuds/aurons_fan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone steals Roxas's chair at the end of his internship and... yeah, he's bitter, and he's going to seek revenge.</p>
<p>Or:</p>
<p>It all started with a chair.</p>
<p>It was Roxas’s damn chair, and even though he probably shouldn’t be starting a fight over a chair…. He was going to. Because it was <i>his</i> chair. </p>
<p>(Happy 8/13!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One I Want to Chase

**Author's Note:**

> How many ways can I use "Beautiful Soul" in fic titles for 8/13? This is year 2, so let us continue. 
> 
> HAPPY 8/13 YALL, MAY AKUROKU DAY NEVER EVER DISAPPEAR.
> 
> I imagined the city they work in like... a mix of NYC and Boston. As in, filled with many things, but CLOSES AT THE MOST INCONVIENT TIMES.
> 
> Also, this is the second fic where something has directly happened to me. Don't steal people's work chairs. They will forever hate you (and yes coworker. I still hate you for it.).

It all started with a chair.

It wasn’t even technically “his” chair, but after one’s butt has sat in it for weeks on end, one would believe that kind of became his chair. Grandfathered into it, as it were.

Either way, it was Roxas’s damn chair, and even though he probably shouldn’t be starting a fight over a chair…. He was going to. Because it was _his_ chair.

It happened one random day nearing the end of his internship before the start of his senior year of college. Roxas came into the office a little on edge, mainly because he’d been out for a few days. See, he’d taken a few days off to deal with college stuff (buying last minute things, racing around and maaaybe going to the beach with some friends, but that was neither here nor there). Roxas didn’t have much stuff at his desk, save a notebook and a water bottle, so he didn’t think the leaving his stuff alone there would be all that much of a hassle.

But oh. It was, as he quickly discovered.

So on his first day back, he came in and dropped his stuff at his new desk. But before he sat down, he just stared in shock at his chair. One of his colleagues (coworkers? What was he supposed to actually call them if he didn’t technically work there?), Demyx stopped by, coffee cup in hand.

“Everything alright, Rox?” Demyx asked.

Normally, Roxas would resist the urge to smack the blond for the stupid nickname. But today, it didn’t even cross his mind.

“My… chair,” he stammered out, pointing to it. “It’s… new.”

He said _new_. He meant ‘What the fuck is this, this isn't my chair. This fake ass chair sucks so badly. It’s LITERALLY FALLING APART.’

Demyx took a look at it and sucked air in. “Ooooh, that sucks! I think one of my coworkers might have snagged it.” Demyx gave Roxas a half pat before walking away. “Something about ‘interns don’t need nice things.’ Sorry!”

\--

During his internship, Roxas had a multitude of a fascinating projects to work on, including one that detailed the analysis of the heart and how it could be used in other ways. But he couldn’t even focus on it. In fact, he couldn’t even _sit in his damn chair_ because of a few reasons: a) it wasn’t his chair, and b) it broke as soon as he attempted to sit down.

Maybe it was karma for trying to place his butt in a seat that wasn’t his. He didn’t know. But what he did know was that he was going to get his chair back, even if it killed him.

Or not, because he wasn’t being paid enough for this internship to die over a chair, but it was the sentiment that mattered.

It took him until around lunch to even figure out where his chair had run off to. His supervisor, Xigbar, just laughed as Roxas trekked the floor in search of his chair, and Xigbar’s boss just gave him a long, blank stare. But Xemnas always looked at Roxas like that, so Roxas wasn’t perturbed. Larxene informed him he was being an idiot, and even his fellow interns (including his older brother) thought he was being silly.

But when he found it, it was _all the way_ over in the IT Department. One of the guys, with bright red hair and fucking face tattoos, was leaning all the way back in _Roxas’s_ chair. There was no way the guy could’ve heard Roxas approach, with his big ass headphones on and eyes laser-focused on the computer, but the guy’s eyes flickered over towards the opening of his cubicle as Roxas stalked forward.

“What.”

Roxas blinked. Most people at this company had been vaguely polite, but then again, not all of them were _chair stealing assholes._  

“Um,” Roxas began, fiddling with his id. The guy raised an eyebrow and turned back to his computer screen. Roxas didn’t let that bother him. “Um, where did you get that chair?”

“Some intern’s desk,” the guy said, typing furiously. Roxas spared the computer screen a glance. It looked kind of like code. “They’ve left for the summer right? Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Roxas snapped, before clenching his fist. He had to keep his cool at his job, lest someone writing his recommendations saw him flipping out. “Yes, it _does_ matter.”

The guy paused and glanced back over to look at Roxas. After a terse moment, he looked down at Roxas’s id (which Roxas’s belatedly realized said INTERN), and snorted. “Ah,” the guy said, turning back to his computer. “Let me guess. You’re the intern.”

“Yes,” Roxas said, gritting his teeth. “Yes I am. And I’d like my chair back, please.”

The guy shrugged, grinning a bit. “You’ll be gone in a week or two. I think I’ll stay with this. Besides,” the guy turned to face Roxas again. “Interns don’t deserve chairs this nice.”

Roxas felt something inside him snap. “You inconsiderate fuckwit. Give me my damn chair back!”

The guy’s eyes widened, and Roxas slapped a hand over his mouth. Shit. Shitshitshit he didn’t just curse at work, ohgod, his boss probably heard and he just …all that work for this internship, wasted…

The guy burst out laughing, and sat up, pulling his headphones off his head. “Well,” the guy spared another glance down at Roxas’s badge. “Roxy—“

“My fucking name is Roxas,” Roxas spat out. Because if he was already screwed, he might as well dig himself deeper.

The guy grinned and tilted his head. “Roxy,” he repeated. Roxas snarled. “My name is Axel. It’s _so_ nice to meet you. But you are never getting this chair back.”

Roxas scowled, crossing his arms. The guy – Axel – didn’t seem like he was going to rat him out, but Roxas wasn’t about to fucking play fair. “I can wait until you leave.”

Axel grinned, wide and toothy. It was a little unnerving. “Oh, you’re a cute little intern. You can try. You may even succeed. But it doesn’t even matter. Because you’ll be gone soon.” Roxas was going to let out a scathing retort but Axel had already leaned back in _Roxas’s_ chair and placed his headphones back on.

“I will!” Roxas said, but Axel didn’t even respond, already focusing on the code on his computer. When Axel didn’t respond, Roxas let out a huff and stalked his way back to his desk. At the very least, someone had replaced his broken chair with something that was adequate but it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t _his_.

Roxas was going to find a way to get his damn chair back if it was the last thing he did.

\--

Getting his chair back was turning out to be harder than he thought.

Roxas started getting into the office early, maybe a half hour to an hour before the regular employees would show up, but Axel would already be there, headphones plugged in, tapping away at some code. He didn’t seem to eat lunch, considering Roxas had creeped by during all the normal lunch times, nor did Axel seem to _move_ , seeing how Roxas and his other interns did rounds during the day to see if they could snag the chair right from under him. And there was only so late Roxas could stay, but no matter when he stopped by, Axel was still there.

“Maybe,” Kairi, a fellow intern said. “You should give up.”

A bunch of the interns liked to eat lunch together. They were even joined by one of the full time employees, Riku, but that was mainly because he was friends with Kairi and Roxas's brother, Sora from college.

But when Roxas said, friends, he kinda meant more like he'd endured years of Riku and Sora boning for the past three years, and there was no reason that they would stop now, even if one person was a full time employee. That would be _ridiculous_.

“No, Kairi,” another intern, Hayner, interjected. He slammed his can of soda down on the table and Kairi jumped a bit. "He can’t ‘give up.’ All that shows is _weakness_. Roxas, you’re stronger than that! Don’t you _dare_.”

“I dunno, guys,” Riku said. “Axel doesn’t ever seem to leave the office, at least since I've started working here. And he’s _always_ working. You’d have to like, be hiding under his desk and wait for him to use the restroom to get it.” He paused, hand halfway to stealing Sora’s fries. “No, Roxas. Don’t. Don’t you dare.”

“That… is an idea,” Roxas said, tapping his chin. Hayner had already pulled out his phone and started furiously tapping at it like he was formulating a plan. 

“Not a good one…” Sora said, slapping Riku’s hands away from his fries. But he also paused, exchanging glances with Hayner. “But it just might…”

Kairi smacked Sora upside the head. “No, dummy. And then Roxas ends up getting fired over a chair that he won’t even have access to in access to in a few weeks, and then you both get kicked out along with him when he turns you in. "

"Roxas would never," Hayner hissed, shooting Roxas a dirty look. Roxas put his hands into a defensive motion.

Kairi looked exhausted at the thought of the conversation continuing and turned to Roxas. “Why not just use your chair and realize defeat?”

“Weakness?” Hayner offered. Kairi didn’t even respond to him.

“Because, Kairi,” Roxas said, crossing his arms. “Just because we’re interns doesn’t mean people can treat us badly. Only a few years ago, they wouldn’t even _pay us_ to get their coffee and make them copies!”

Kairi rolled her eyes, and Sora gave him a worried look. “You told mom you were doing actual analysis projects!”

“I am, Sora, but that’s not the point,” Roxas said.

Riku also rolled his eyes. “Guys. It sucks when you’re the low man on the totem pole. But there’s nothing you can do about it.” He also rolled his eyes when Hayner hissed at him. "Just be glad you even have internships. There are people who would kill to be where you are."

With a resound nod, Kairi turned back to her food. Hayner continued to glare at Riku, and Sora shot Roxas a look and scooted closer to his brother. Roxas was still frowning down at the table like it had personally affronted him.

"If it really bothers you," Sora said, voice low. "Maybe just bug Xigbar about it. He doesn't seem like that scary of a guy."

"Uh," Riku cut in, leaning down to join their conversation. "He is."

Sora glared over at Riku, before continuing to speak to Roxas. “If it's going to bug you for the next couple of weeks, be an adult about it and confront someone of a higher rank. Don't do something stupid like trying to wait here after hours to steal his chair."

Roxas nodded, frown still set on his face. Hayner paused in his typing. When Sora believed that Roxas was all good, he turned to face Riku, and they started whispering about something that sounded suspiciously like a date. 

"Roxas," Hayner said quietly, leaning in close. "If you need cover, I got your back."

Under the table, they high fived.

\--

Roxas and Hayner had it all planned out. Roxas would announce that he was going to “spend the night” at Hayner's, but as they all left together, Roxas was going to forget something at the office. He would then go back, cause Hayner and Roxas to miss the shared train home with Kairi and Sora. Hayner would then take a later train, and Roxas would stalk out the office.

Everything was perfectly planned. Nothing could go wrong.

The only problem was the office this late at night was _terrifying_. 

Roxas had hid in a nearby Chipotle, slowly eating his guac-less meal (just because interns were paid didn't mean they were paid _well_ ) until he was ushered out by security around 11pm or so. He slipped back into his office building, nodding at the bored looking security guards. But by now, there couldn't be anyone left in the building. Who would still be here this close to midnight?

Besides him, of course.

He rubbed at his arms, trying to will away his nerves (though this place was super fucking creepy) and headed to his floor. The whole floor, save a few lights here or there, was completely dark. 

But as he snuck to the side of the office where the red headed demon sat, he flung his hands into the air and almost let out a scream of frustration. Because despite the darkness of the building, despite the hour, DESPITE EVERYTHING, Axel was still there, tapping away at his keyboard.

Roxas must have actually let out a scream or Axel noticed him half flailing about, because the redhead slipped his headphones off his ears and gave Roxas a confused look.

“It’s a little late for you, isn’t it Roxy?” Axel asked as Roxas stalked his way up to his cubicle. “What are you doing here so la—"

He never quite got to finish his statement because Roxas grabbed Axel by the collar and dragged him upwards so they were face to face. Or well, Roxas had never seen how tall Axel actually was because he was always sitting, so by “face to face,” it was more like “Axel’s chest to Roxas’s face.” But Axel still looked down in shock so it was kinda face to face?

Whatever, it still counted in Roxas’s book.

“I don’t know what the _fuck_ you’re doing here so late,” Roxas hissed. “Or why you come in so early…"

“I work here?” Axel replied. He raised an eyebrow delicately. 

“But,” Roxas continued, as if Axel hadn’t spoken. “You will give me my fucking chair back."

There was a long, long pause as Axel’s amused expression because confused, and then straight up confounded. “You waited in the office this late just for the chance that I might not be around?”

“Who the fuck even _works_ this late,” Roxas grumbled.

“Just for your fucking chair,” Axel said. He shook his head, raising his hands in defeat. “Look, little intern… how about we do a trade?” He raised a finger to Roxas’s lips as the blond attempted to protest. “I’m not giving you this chair back. Even if I did, you’re leaving in what? A week? Less?” He hummed a little, looking far too comfortable for someone being held by the shirt. "But I have a crazy idea. How about I take you out to dinner?”

Roxas blinked. He took a step back and dropped his hands from Axel’s shirt. “Excuse me?”

Axel shrugged, resting one hand on his chair. “You’re leaving soon, so who cares about your chair. But you’re not so difficult on the eyes. How about one dinner and then you can go back to college with a funny story about the guy who stole your chair.”

Admittedly, Roxas was tired. It had been a long day, it was nearing midnight, and his dinner of Chipotle wasn’t nearly as fulfilling as he’d like it to be. “But interns can’t date employees?” He tried, as if that was the main issue.

Axel snorted. “Have you missed the love affair of Riku and whatever that kids name is? They’re not even subtle.”

“I…” Roxas shook his head. He could feel his hands, which had been clenched tightly into fists, slowly unfold. He sighed, shoulders slumping a little. “I just want my chair back." 

They stared at each other for a long time before Axel raised his eyebrow. Roxas half though that Axel was going to say something, either lewd or stupid or just plain rude. But then he grabbed his headphones, tapped away at the computer, and moved to walk away, leaving Roxas standing beside his chair. Roxas's look grew confused. 

"It's past midnight," Axel said by way of explanation. "I should probably get home."

"You're admitting defeat, just like that?" Roxas said. "After all that talk of never giving up the chair?"

"Look, Roxas, I like the chair and I don't want to give it up," Axel said, slinging his bag over his shoulders. "But I'm not willing to sleep in the office over night for the damn thing."

Roxas paused. Looked at the clock again. Let Axel's words sink in. 

"Fuuuuuuuuck..." Roxas said, eyes widening. The trains stopped running at midnight. Neither Hayner nor his own house were close enough to get to on foot or in a relatively cheap taxi. 

As Roxas contemplated his victory of now having to sleep at his cubicle, Axel took a few steps away and then sighed. "Do you want to crash at my place?" He finally asked, turning back to face the blond. "I'm not all that far away, and I almost feel bad about being the reason why you're here so late."

"Almost?" Roxas echoed. He saw how Axel rolled his eyes and turned away, probably reconsidering his offer, when Roxas stepped forward, grabbing his arm. “No, wait, I'm sorry. Yes, please, thank you for letting me crash at your place. That's... Nice of you.”

Axel didn’t even acknowledge that with a response, and was half way out the door before Roxas could gather all of his stuff. He took one last look at his ( _his, his, his, goddammit)_ chair, before hurrying after him.

Roxas wasn’t really in the mood the sleep over at work, not now nor ever. He wasn’t _that_ dedicated of an employee.

He also made sure to shoot a text over to Hayner assuring his friend he hadn’t died in a chair related incident. Because schemes or not, if Hayner freaked out too much, he would end up calling Roxas’s mom. And she would raise hell if she found out he’d lied to her.

Especially… over a stupid chair.

Dammit.

\--

When Axel had said he lived fairly close, Roxas wasn’t expecting that to be literal steps away. Because their company was in the nicer part of Radiant Garden – the kind of part where you looked up at the apartments with a glimmer of far off hope in your eye that one day you could afford to live there but knew you never actually would.

But Axel simply walked into one of the apartment buildings without a second glance at the doorman who was rushing to open the door for him and jabbed the elevator button. After giving a nod of appreciation to the harried doorman, Roxas couldn’t stop his jaw from dropping. For someone who was so stingy about a damn chair, he wouldn’t have thought Axel lived like _this_.

“You coming?” Axel asked, holding the elevator open. Roxas resisted the urge to grumble, but hurried in, as Axel hit the button for the 13th floor.

The elevator was quick, but even so, Roxas still wanted to spend the time asking Axel questions. Questions along the lines of _what the fuck,_ but instead Roxas fidgeted awkwardly and stared intensely at the walls.

“My parents are kind of loaded,” Axel said. Roxas’s head jerked up, but Axel wasn’t even looking at him, too busy rummaging in his backpack. “And it’s easier to ask for help for rent instead of being an idiot and thinking I can afford living in Radiant Garden alone.”

“What… do they do?” Roxas asked, as the elevator doors dinged open.

Axel let out a snort and walked down the hallway, stopping at room 1308. “That company you work for?” Axel asked, as he moved to unlock the door. “My dad owns it.” Roxas froze as Axel finally opened the door. He glanced back at the blond with a smirk. “You coming?”

Filthy rich or not, Axel was _still_ a pretentious asswipe who stole his chair. That wasn’t going to be something Roxas forgot. Especially with the way he was acting. So Roxas grumbled and stepped instead.

But holy shit, this _place_. Roxas had been invited over Riku’s place, which he shared with a few people, and that whole apartment could probably fit in the entry way of Axel’s. There was a completely massive kitchen off to his left filled with every type of kitchen appliance known to man, and when Roxas stepped further inside, he could see a huge entertainment center in the living room and what looked like two or three bedrooms off to the right.

Two or three bedrooms. For _one_ person.

“Holy shit,” Roxas gasped.

“You hungry?” Axel called from the kitchen. Roxas retreated back to see Axel staring at what looked like frozen dinners. “I’d actually make something, but considering it’s so late, it’s probably not a good idea to start cooking.” When Roxas didn’t respond, Axel looked up at him. “I also have cereal?”

“That… works. Thanks,” Roxas said. Axel shrugged and grabbed some bowls from one of the cabinets. Roxas climbed onto one of the chairs, unsure of what else to do. It wasn’t like he was used to being in this place, and everything was so… expensive looking, he was afraid of breaking it with his eyes or something dumb like that.

They didn’t talk much while they ate their dinner (early breakfast? Midnight snack?) of cornflakes, but after a while, Roxas dropped the spoon into the bowl and fixed Axel a hard look.

Axel glanced up. “What?”

“Why did you take my chair in the first place?” Roxas said. Axel rolled his eyes and Roxas waved his hands. “No like, if your family owns the company, why would you steal an intern’s chair? And while we’re asking questions, why did you ask me to dinner?!”

Axel drummed his fingernails on the table, glancing just past Roxas. “Most people don’t realize who my family is, and it would be really nice if it could stay that way.”

“Sure. Fine. Whatever,” Roxas said, crossing his arms. “But how did you manage to keep that a secret?”

Axel rolled his eyes and grabbed Roxas’s empty bowl off the table. “I use my mom’s last name, so that’s a help. And the news always mentions they have a son, but I've managed to stay out of the spotlight.” He opened the dishwasher (Roxas’s eyes widened – who had a DISHWASHER in Radiant Garden??), and added the bowls inside. “I also started the company as an intern in the IT department. No one pays attention to us there.”

He turned back to Roxas and grinned ever so slightly.

“And if I worked my way up from being an intern and I suffered, then you should suffer a little too, I think.”

Axel strode off into one of the bedrooms, and Roxas hesitantly followed him. “You never answered the second question,” Roxas said, as Axel knelt down, digging through his clothes. “Why did you ask me to dinner?”

Axel paused, hands still halfway in the drawers. “Well,” he said eventually, standing and walking over to Roxas. “You’re cute. And I thought it would get you to stop bitching about the chair.” Roxas blinked. Axel dropped a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt into his hands. “But I guess that didn’t work like I’d hoped.” He walked past him, and Roxas followed blindly.

They were back in the living room, and Roxas made to go flop onto the couch, where he assumed he’d be sleeping for the night, but Axel let out some kind of whistle and nodded to the third bedroom. “I do have a guest room,” he said.

Roxas choked a little. But he composed himself and made his way to the guest room, which was neatly arranged, and looked barely touched. To have an entire room in this city with no purpose at all except for guests on the offhand…

Oh to be rich.

“Goodnight,” Axel said, half leaning in the door way. “I don’t care if you watch TV but I’m exhausted.”

“I…” Roxas said, clutching the clothing tighter. There was something off. He should… _do_ something, he felt like there was some cliché he wasn’t fulfilling, but he wasn’t sure exactly… what. “Aren’t you going to make some shifty comment about inviting me to your bed or something?!”

Axel let out a laugh, pushing off the doorway. “Roxy,” he said, and Roxas felt his hackles rise. “You were willing to sneak into the office to steal back a fucking chair. I’m not going to force you to do _anything_ , and if I did, you would probably stab me. If you want something that badly, you can get it yourself.”

And with that, Axel waved and headed to his own room.

Roxas didn’t quite know how to take that. He changed, half debating just wearing his work clothes to bed, but feeling more uncomfortable with that because the room was far, far too nice to suffer through that. But the idea of wearing Axel’s clothing was also weird. But he climbed into bed, and began his nightly ritual of staring at the ceiling.

Heck, this whole situation was fucking _weird_. Axel, a rich guy who no one knew was rich, who worked too long hours at his family’s company, who lived in a massive apartment with a fucking _guestroom_ and _entertainment suite_ , but never talked to anyone at work?

Roxas didn’t realize he’d been zoning out so hard until he looked at the clock and grumbled. He needed to go to bed. He was going to be cranky and pissy in the morning if he didn’t sleep.

He frowned. Well, he was going to be cranky anyway. He still never got his chair back. So besides learning more than he ever thought possible about Axel, tonight was a bust. 

After another twenty or so minutes of staring at the ceiling, Roxas grumbled and climbed out of bed. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going to say, but he didn’t feel right with leaving it like that.

But he didn’t even have to break into Axel’s room or anything. Axel was sitting in the living room, watching television, his back to Roxas. “Sorry, was the TV too loud?” Axel said, not turning. Roxas jumped a little (did Axel have eyes in the back of his head??), and Axel finally turned to face him. “I can’t sleep.”

“No, I just…” Roxas said. He padded his way over to the couch and sat next to Axel. Axel glanced down at him as Roxas fidgeted awkwardly. When Roxas didn’t say anything, Axel made to turn the TV down ever so slighty.

Eventually, Roxas sighed and said, “If you can have all this influence in the company, or heck, anyone you wanted in the world with all your money, why don’t you network or something? Or date more? Or, heck, travel the world? You could probably own the company or something, instead of working in IT.”

“Maybe I like working in IT,” Axel replied easily. “And maybe I don’t like people to use me for my money.”

“But you can _do_ something.” Roxas argued. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much but, sitting in this nice ass apartment made him kind of uncomfortable. The place was lovely, no doubt, but Roxas would never be able to live like this, no matter how hard he worked in life. “You have the connections, and even if you started out as a lowly intern, you have opportunities I never will.” Axel watched him curiously, and Roxas sighed again, slumping his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I’m just… tired. And when you’re not stealing my chairs, you’re not that bad of a guy. I should just go back to bed.”

Roxas almost made to leave, too tired to be embarrassed, when he felt Axel’s arm land on his shoulder. His mind went blank, as Axel said, “Maybe I like angry blonds to yell at me at in the middle of the night about my life choices after I so _kindly_ invited them to spend the night instead of sleeping at the office.”

Roxas glanced down at the arm on his shoulder, and a couple of thoughts ran through his head. One of them was just shaking it off and going to bed and pretending this was all a weird dream. Which would make tomorrow morning an interesting.

Or he could… just.. go with the flow. For once.

Without thinking of things like consequences of what was going to happen tomorrow, Roxas leaned into Axel’s touch. He could feel Axel go still.

“Yeah well, if some asshole hadn’t taken my good chair, we wouldn’t have this problem, now would we?” Roxas said, glancing up to Axel.

They stared at each other for a bit, before Axel rolled his eyes and pulled Roxas closer to him, leaning down for a kiss.

“Tomorrow morning is going to suck,” Axel muttered under his breath. Roxas pushed him away, eyes narrowing. Axel rolled his eyes and tugged Roxas back. “Because it’s three-thirty n the morning and we have work tomorrow morning. Stop taking everything so personally.”

Roxas was going to snark back when he yawned. He actually pushed away from Axel, trying not to yawn in the red head's face, when he felt himself being lifted from the couch. “Are you… seriously carrying me?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Axel’s neck.

“You look moments away from falling asleep,” Axel said, gently kicking his door open. “Now shut up and go to sleep.”

He all but tossed Roxas onto the bed. But when Roxas sat up quickly, to give Axel a piece of his mind, Axel climbed into bed with him.

“Look,” Axel said, resting his head on his hand. Roxas turned to look at him. “We can talk about possibly dating and what we are, and getting dinner and dates, and whatever you want tomorrow.” He paused, before letting out a yawn. “Today, I guess. But I have a presentation for my boss that’s been busting my ass this whole week.” Axel paused, and Roxas feel more than hear him moving closer. “And I did hear what you said, about my influence. And I’ve thought about it and I _am_ happy where I am. But to have more power… could be interesting. ” He yawned, and the bed shifted again. “But we can discuss that later. If there is a later.” With that, Axel curled up beside him.

Oh. Huh. That would explain the recent late nights… “Fine,” Roxas said. He hesitated a bit, before leaning over and kissing Axel on the cheek. “Night, jerk.”

Axel let out something that sounded like a laugh.

\--

So, Axel was right. The next morning _did_ epically suck. Axel had to half drag Roxas out of bed and shovel food into his mouth before dragging him out of the apartment at an ungodly hour of the morning. Just because Axel’s apartment building was practically next door didn’t give Axel the right showing up exactly at 9am. Or, heck, 11.

“We can't show up together,” Axel said, shoving Roxas out of the apartment building door. “It might look suspicious.” Roxas narrowed his eyes and Axel rolled his in response. “I don’t care really care, but your boss might. And considering I’ve known Xigbar since I was a kid, he might have a few choice words for you if we walk in together.”

That shut Roxas up.

But the long and short of it was, Axel went in stupidly early as usual. Roxas glared at people in Starbucks while waiting for caffeine to finally, _finally_ kick in. And when he finally allowed himself to go into his desk, around 9:05, Hayner was waiting by his cubicle, looking mildly concerned.

“Dude!” He said, grabbing Roxas’s arm. “I’m glad you’re not dead, but next time, text me _before_ the trains are closed for the night that you’re okay! I was about to call your mom!”

“Yeah, no don’t,” Roxas said, throwing his stuff down onto his chair. He almost said something else but he turned to his cubicle, eyes wide.

Roxas blinked.

And he blinked again.

And for good measure, he reached down and grabbed the note that was resting on the back of the chair.

_Fine_ Roxy _, you can have the stupid chair. Just give it back when your internship is over._

_…Please._

_Anyway, dinner tonight? I can make a mean steak._

_– A_

Hayner snatched the note out of Roxas’s hand, eyes skimming over it. “Wait, no, wait,” Hayner stammered, looking between the note and Roxas’s face. “No.”

And then to make matters worse, Axel walked by, headphones around his neck, notebook in hand. He caught Roxas’s eye and smirked, before heading into a conference room. Roxas grinned a little, lowering his head.

Hayner jumped in his line of sight and vigorously shook his head. “Nooooo,” he said, rolling up the paper and jabbing it at Roxas. “No, you’re not _allowed_ to pull a Riku/Sora on me, Roxas! You can’t leave me hanging like this!!”

Roxas rolled his eyes, and sat back down in his (his, his, _his_ ), chair and grinned. He could deal with this.

\--

One week and two days later, Roxas’s internship officially ended. Two minutes after the work day ended, Axel asked Roxas on a proper date instead of over for just “dinner.”

Roxas said yes, and let Axel lead the way, assuming they were going out to eat.

But then Axel stopped in front of an office supply store and turned to a confused Roxas.

“Just in case you wanted to pick a better office chair,” he said, grinning.

It took all of Roxas’s will power not to stab Axel in the face.


End file.
